PHONES(5)

📦
version 15.1 · 3 versions
, in freebsd 15.1, nixpkgs unstable

💖 PHONES(5) — the phones manual, but make it a group chat 💖

okay so this is phones(5) from the File Formats Manual and bestie, it's a short one, but it's important, so let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

phones — the remote host phone number data base. yes it's a whole database, and yes it's just a text file, and yes that's iconic of her 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so the file /etc/phones holds the system-wide private phone numbers for the tip(1) program. the way that this is genuinely privileged information 😭 — this file is normally unreadable, so it may contain privileged information. main character file that literally nobody is allowed to read. we love a mysterious queen 👑

the format of the file is a series of lines that look like this:

<system-name>[ \t]*<phone-number>

so: the system name, then zero or more spaces or tabs, then the phone number. periodt.

the system name is one of those defined in the remote(5) file, and the phone number is constructed from any sequence of characters, terminated only by , or the end of the line. that's it, that's the rule, no cap 🎀

now for the iconic little symbols: the = and * characters are indicators to the auto call units to pause and wait for a second dial tone (when you're going through an exchange). the details matter here, so listen up:

  • the = is required by the DF02-AC
  • the * is required by the BIZCOMP 1030

different machines, different little guys, same vibe check 🦋

⚠️ only one phone number per line is permitted. one. per. line. don't be greedy 🙈

but here's the slay part: if more than one line in the file contains the same system name, tip(1) will attempt to dial each one in turn, until it establishes a connection. it's giving "keep trying until someone picks up" energy and honestly? relatable 💀🔥

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/phones

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

the phones file appeared in 4.2BSD. a legend since day one, we stan an OG 👑🌈

and that's the whole page, bestie!! short, sweet, and full of dial-up lore 🍓✨ this Debian edition is dated June 5, 1993 — yes, a genuine vintage, and it's still out here doing the most 💜🧚

📦 where this page comes from